Now available in paperback, Played in Britain: Modern Theatre in 100 Plays explores the best and most influential plays from 1945 to date. Published in collaboration with the Victoria & Albert Musuem and fully illustrated with photos from the V&A’s collections and featuring a foreword by the late Richard Griffiths O.B.E., the book provides a sumptuous treat for theatre-lovers. It was awarded the 2014 David Bradby Award for research by the Theatre and Performance Research Association.
Opening with J. B. Priestley’s classic play from 1946, An Inspector Calls, and ending with Laura Wade’s examination of class privilege and moral turpitude inPosh over 60 years later, Played in Britain offers a visual history of post-war theatre on the British stage. Arranged chronologically the featured plays illustrate and respond to a number of themes that animate post-war society: censorship and controversy; race and immigration; gender and sexuality; money and politics.
An essay on each period first sets the context and explores trends, while the commentary accompanying each play illuminates the plot and themes, considers its original reception and subsequent afterlife, and finishes by suggesting other plays to explore. Photographs from the V&A’s extensive collection illustrate each play, providing further insight into stage and costume designs, and include iconic images from the premieres of major plays such asWaiting for Godot and Look Back in Anger.
Illustrated throughout with stage production photography, Played in Britain: Modern Theatre in 100 Playspresents a unique and visually stunning panorama of key dramatic works produced in Britain over the past seventy years. FromAn Inspector Calls to The Rocky Horror Show, or Abigail’s Party toWaiting for Godot, fresh light is thrown on the impact, aesthetics and essence of these key plays.
